The old wooden cabin bathed in a warm golden glow after Tim lit the last candle. The frosty blue light from the heavily falling snow outside was held at bay by the warm radiance coming from the candlelight and the crackling fireplace. A smile stretched over Tim’s lips only to be wiped away by Penelope pouring another glass of wine in the kitchen. As Tim walked over to the cupboard, he was about to say something, but swallowed it for the peace to continue. She emptied her glass and brought a steaming pot to the small wooden table in the middle of the cabin. Tim sat at the table and Penelope joined with her glass and the bottle of wine. She moved her chair in and their knees banged under the table. Penelope sighed at Tim, her eyes wide and nostrils flared. He pulled his chair out, freeing her some room to sit comfortably. Penelope, wrapped in layers of clothes and still shivering, pulled a spoonful of pale pasta onto her plate, raised her elbow to the table to rest her head and jabbed her fork into the pasta screws.

“Shame we don’t have any ketchup. It would have been like our student days,” Tim grinned.

“It is like our student days, stuck in a dump instead of being in Venice,” Penelope said and emptied her glass again. Tim resorted to silence again, a nice change from shouting. Silence was unfortunately not on Penelope’s menu tonight. “Do know how embarrassing it was to tell Diana and Rach where we were going?” Tim didn’t answer, he just packed his mouth with pasta, so Penelope continued “To think they had asked us to join them in Venice. Rooms overlooking the waterways, reservations to Quadri, the fanciest place in town. I bet they aren’t eating undercooked pasta and freezing their fannies off.”

Tim swallowed and mumbled “Probably not, they can actually cook pasta.” he sighed. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to fight.”

“There’s nothing else to do but fight. No internet, no phones, not even electricity in this…” she slammed the table “…frozen shithole.”

Tim chewed harder and faster. “Give the wine a rest.”

“It’s the only reason I haven’t gone Jack Torrance yet,” she sipped from the bottle. “Why, Tim? Why did we come here?”

“To reconnect.”

“Reconnect? We haven’t connected in 7 months,” She chackled.

Tim felt the blood rush to his face, his tear ducts fill and his fists clench. “Well, if you weren’t drunk every night…”

“If you weren’t such a softie, I wouldn’t need a stiff drink.”

Tim rose from the table and swung his plate at the wooden wall smashing it, cementing his anger. “I’m done, pack your shit here, then when we get back, pack your shit again. This, whatever this is, is over, you horrible cunt.” Tim left the table and stormed to bed. He would have slammed the door, but the cabin was all one room, there wasn’t a door to slam.

Tim blew candles out on his way to the door. He opened it and a gust of icy wind covered him and the wooden floor with large snowflakes. He stepped into the thick of it towards their snow-covered car. Halfway to the car, his legs shot out from under him and a sharp jolt burst through his side as he landed, knocking the wind out of him. Penelope chuckled and past him. He pulled himself up trying to hide the pain that was waving through him. He opened the car doors by pressing the button in his pocket and Penelope tossed her bag in the trunk and sat herself in the passenger seat. Tim did the same and slowly got into the driving seat. He started the car, turned the heaters on and flicked the wipers on, but they struggled to clear the windscreen. Tim pushed the accelerator, but the car stayed still. He pushed harder and the engine revved but moved nowhere. Tim turned off the car and leaned his head on the stirring wheel. His warm breath hung in the cold car.

“You push and I’ll drive,” Penelope said as she unclicked her seatbelt.

“I can’t push us off this fucking mountain.”

“Well, what are we gonna do?”

“Fuck! how should I know?” Tim looked from the wheel.

“Unbelievable. Fucking Venice, Tim!” She opened the door. Tim did the same, but a wave of pain made him yelp.

“What’s wrong?” she looked back.

“Nothing.”

She slammed the door. Tim got out while holding his aching side and made his way to the cabin. Inside Penelope sat in the armchair under blankets and Tim relit the candles and moved to the bed wheezing. They looked at each other from across the room, their breaths pulsating like bulls waiting to charge. Tim glanced to the window watching the snow blow past the window in the dwindling light.

“Are you sure you are okay?”

“I’m fine! Just...” Tim took a shuddered breath to calm his annoyance and the pain that rose from every breath. “Just leave me alone.”

Penelope went to the fireplace where she stacked logs and lit a match. Match after match, the fire wouldn’t catch. Tim watched as she shook her hand when the match burnt too low.

“Get some newspaper… make small balls… place them between the logs. Fire needs oxygen,” he said, gasping for every breath.

“Suddenly he’s Bear Grylls.” Penelope did what he said and tried again. Tim dragged himself towards her. “I can do it!” she said but spun around when she heard a thump hit the floor. Tim was unconscious and was shivering. Penelope pulled him to the fireplace while shouting his name, she wrapped him in a blanket and struck matches rapidly with shaky hands.

Tim woke to feel a sharp warmth resting on his face and on the floor next to him Penelope sat, her eyes wet and red.

“Tim?”

“Yeah,” he croaked.

She dived down and kissed him repeatedly, he could taste salty tears and the silky brush of her hair on his cheek.

“You scared me, I thought I’d lost you.”

“I’m here.”

“Tim, your entire side is bruised. Why didn’t you say?”

Tim looked into the fireplace and watched the flames dance around a feast of wood.

“Are you in pain?”

“With every breath,”

“You need a hospital.”

“There’s no way, Pen.”

Penelope swallowed hard “You called me Pen, I can’t remember the last time…”

“It’s been too long.”

Tears formed and rolled “I don’t know what to do.”

“Keep the fire going, someone will come by morning.” he took her hand. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. “I bet Venetian doctors could fix me up no problem,” he said, and Pen laughed and squeezed his hand tighter.

Under blankets the couple watched the fire pop and wave as they held each other.

“This beats the video fireplace” Pen said in Tim’s ear.

He nodded “We did… enjoy the video a few times though.”

Pen giggled “we had nothing then, but we were so happy. What happened?”

“I wish I knew,” Tim whispered.

“I wish we could go back.”

“We can’t. But we could go forward?”

“Could we?”

Tim turned his head from the fire and Penelope’s eyes widened and shone in the golden light. Tim brushed past her cold nose and kissed her, she kissed back.

“I’m sorry, Tim,” she wept.

“I’m sorry too, Pen,” Tim closed his eyes, his body relaxed back. He drifted away on thoughts of love.